Manchester United Transfer News: Danny Drinkwater Linked Amid January Rumours

Manchester United are reportedly preparing to shell out £30 million for Leicester City's Danny Drinkwater in the January transfer window, despite indications the Red Devils will not "splash the cash" in the new year. 

According to Neil Custis in the Sun, United manager Jose Mourinho believes Drinkwater is the deep-lying midfielder he needs to allow Paul Pogba more freedom, and the Old Trafford outfit will look to tempt the 26-year-old Englishman with a £150,000-per-week contract.

However, per Stuart Mathieson in the Manchester Evening News (h/t Mirror), despite United having lost their last three matches on the bounce, only "an exceptional target" could tempt the Red Devils to move in January.

Drinkwater played a key role in Leicester's extraordinary Premier League title triumph last term, and he only signed a new five-year deal with the Foxes—worth a reported £90,000 per week—in August, per John Howell in the Guardian.

It is easy to see why he might be a target for United as, despite their big summer spending, they still lack a controlling influence in midfield other than the ageing Michael Carrick, per Sport magazine's Tony Hodson:

Pogba, United's £89 million summer signing, has been criticised for positional ill-discipline in his recent performances, but he would be allowed a lot more freedom to roam playing alongside Drinkwater, a player well regarded for his reading of the game and control.

Mourinho dropped Wayne Rooney into a midfield three alongside Marouane Fellaini and Pogba to attempt to solve his side's central problem in Sunday's 3-1 defeat to Watford, but the move failed miserably as the United skipper put in a terrible performance, as discussed below by a Bleacher Report panel:

Per the Times' Paul Hirst, Carrick, 35, is set to make his first appearance of the season under Mourinho against Northampton Town in the EFL Cup on Wednesday:

It is highly likely that the experienced Englishman will bring United a level of control in midfield that has been sorely lacking of late and may prove to Mourinho that his best midfield three should consist of Carrick, Pogba and one of Ander Herrera or Morgan Schneiderlin.

However, given his age, Carrick is no longer a long-term solution.

Drinkwater, on the other hand, could be. He came through the youth setup at United but never made a senior appearance as he was loaned out variously to Huddersfield Town, Cardiff City, Watford and Barnsley before moving permanently to Leicester in 2012.

He has since established himself as a top-class central midfielder, and the kind of player United are crying out for at the moment.

United will face up to Drinkwater when they play Leicester in the Premier League on Saturday, and he could show the Red Devils just what they are missing with another of his consistently reliable performances in the Foxes' engine room.